Zion Bans Large Vehicles on Mt. Carmel Highway Starting June 7
Starting June 7, 2026, Zion National Park will prohibit oversized vehicles on the 10.7-mile stretch of the Zion–Mt. Carmel Highway between Canyon Junction and the park’s East Entrance. The new size and weight limits apply to the scenic corridor and tunnel that many Grand Circle travelers use to cross between Zion and the towns of Kanab and the Arizona Strip, so RV owners and anyone towing a trailer should plan around the change before they hit the road.
According to Zion National Park (U.S. National Park Service), any vehicle longer than 35 feet 9 inches, wider than 7 feet 10 inches, taller than 11 feet 4 inches, or heavier than 50,000 pounds will be turned away from that section of highway. Combined rigs — a truck pulling a trailer — cannot exceed 26 feet from hitch to rear axle or 50 feet overall. The Park Service says the restriction is grounded in safety studies from 1989 and 2019, both validated by the Federal Highway Administration, which found that oversized vehicles cannot safely navigate the road’s switchbacks or pass through the historic Mt. Carmel Tunnel within a single lane.
Who is affected — and who isn’t
The ban targets the East Entrance approach specifically. Large vehicles will still be welcome at the park’s South Entrance, where the Zion Canyon Visitor Center keeps a dedicated large-vehicle lot (space permitting). Drivers headed to Zion Lodge, the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive during the shuttle off-season, or the Watchman and South campgrounds can continue to enter from the south as before. In short, the new rule changes how you reach Zion in a big rig, not whether you can visit at all.
For travelers used to driving straight through the tunnel from the east, the practical effect is a detour. The Park Service notes that alternate Grand Circle routes add roughly 10 to 45 minutes of drive time depending on your destination. That’s a modest penalty for a single trip, but it adds up for anyone planning a multi-park loop on a tight schedule.
Planning your route across the Strip
If your itinerary runs east from Zion toward Kanab and the wider Arizona Strip, the smart move is to map your fuel stops and overnight spots before you leave. Travelers staging out of Mesquite or coming up the US-89 corridor have plenty of room to reroute without backtracking far, and the extra minutes are easy to absorb if you build them into the day rather than discovering them at a ranger station.
The restriction also reshapes how big-rig drivers string together nearby public lands. Many of the Strip’s signature destinations sit off paved highways that handle full-size vehicles comfortably, so a few minutes of detour planning opens up the whole region. If you’re already adjusting your route, it’s worth folding in stops you might otherwise rush past — the overlooks at Toroweap, the remote canyons of Grand Canyon–Parashant National Monument, or the high country of the Kaibab National Forest.
Because the limits are anchored to long-standing engineering findings rather than a temporary closure, this is best treated as the new normal for the East Entrance rather than a seasonal inconvenience. Anyone driving an RV, towing a boat or camper, or hauling a work trailer should measure their rig against the posted limits now — length, width, height, and combined dimensions all count, and a vehicle that clears one threshold can still be stopped by another.
For the official limits, allowed access points, and the latest road status, check the Zion National Park news release before you travel. Planning a broader trip through the region? Browse our recreation guides to pair the crossing with hikes, drives, and viewpoints that suit your vehicle.